Remarks at the Hudson Institute

[As prepared for delivery.]

The hearts and minds of the American people have been filled with heartbreak and righteous anger for our friends and allies, the people of Israel.

The terrorist attacks on innocent children, women, and men were disgusting.

A music festival, turned into a killing field. 

Women and children thrown into trucks and kidnapped.

The bodies of the innocent paraded around the streets like trophies.

Hundreds upon hundreds are dead or still missing. 

A thousand deaths in Israel is 36,000 in America. 

New reports this morning suggest that dozens of babies have been found beheaded. Pure evil…

And the murder victims and the hostages include American citizens.

America stands with Israel in sorrow… in solidarity… and in strength of resolve that these heinous acts of war will not go unanswered and will not go unpunished.

Our nation is founded on the Judeo-Christian rock. As a Christian, I believe we first follow Romans 12:15 and mourn with those who mourn. And our prayers are with the people of Israel.

But we must also stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends when it is time to turn the page to Romans 13:4 — "if you do wrong, be afraid… for God's servants are agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

These despicable acts deserve nothing less than the full measure of justice.

The people behind them need to feel the wrath of God. And they need to meet some Israeli or American military hardware to help them on their way.

***

It is not enough for the United States of America to condemn this kind of aggression.

We need leaders who will stop inviting this kind of aggression.

President Obama's own defense secretary famously said that Joe Biden was on the wrong side of every major question in foreign policy and national security for 40 years. 

So tragically, it is no surprise that President Biden's term has been a disaster for our security, our vital interests, and our allies. Particularly in the Middle East.

Every time, they have chosen weakness and appeasement… every time America has been passive… it has sent the most dangerous signal to bad actors everywhere.

American hesitation, American weakness, smells like one thing to bad actors. It smells like blood in the water.

Look at President Biden's humiliating surrender in Afghanistan. It cost 13 servicemembers their lives and cost us credibility and deterrence. It signaled to terrorists that with a little bit of effort, this Administration will allow the United States to be outfought, outsmarted, and outlasted. 

Look at Biden telling Putin just before he invaded Ukraine that a "minor incursion" might not be so bad.

Time after time, Joe Biden has revealed a lack of backbone.

It's not just hesitation or incompetence. It's a pattern of foolish policy choices that have undermined us and our allies.

The last time Joe Biden was part of an Administration, he and President Obama sent pallets of cash to Iran — rewarding Tehran while supporting terrorism and pursuing nuclear weapons. 

Republicans shouted from the rooftops that Iran's terrorist proxies including Hamas and Hezbollah were going to reap part of the windfall.

But the left wanted so desperately to cozy up to Iran.

They didn't care how much American money ended up in the pockets of Israel's enemies.

Just a few weeks ago, President Biden sent the same signal again. He rewarded Iran for taking American hostages by unlocking $6 billion for the mullahs.

The Administration swears the money can only be spent on humanitarian aid. How naïve can you be? Money is fungible. We just gave a terrorist-supporting regime billions of dollars and room in its budget. The president of Iran came right out and said they'll spend that money however they want.

And it's not just Biden's weakness and appeasement towards Iran.

This Administration has also found other ways to create daylight between us and Israel.

Joe Biden has interfered in Israeli domestic politics and tried to weaken Prime Minister Netanyahu.

He slow-walked inviting him to the White House and practically made him beg for that invitation while the world looked on.

As if, Israel is a second-class ally that he is stuck with. And the thugs and the killers took notice.

Even after these historic attacks, the Biden Administration's newly-established Office of Palestinian Affairs published a statement that tried to tie Israel's hands by saying, quote, "all sides" should refrain from further action.

They had to delete the post after a backlash. Lord, have mercy.

There is no both sides. There's no moral equivalency. We're talking about terrorists killing innocent people. There is right and there is wrong. It's black and white. And there should be no doubt where our loyalties lie. 

We have seen the face of evil.

The President of the United States has a moral duty to lead with strength and clarity.

So while Hamas carried out these attacks… Joe Biden has blood on his hands.

His weakness invited the attack.

His cash giveaways to Iran helped fund terrorism.

And after the attack his Administration suggested Israel should stand down.

It's a disgrace.

We need a President who is loyal to our allies and lethal to our adversaries. 

Because weakness never buys you peace. 

Being passive is provocation.

President Reagan once said, "of the four wars in his lifetime, none came about because the United States was too strong." 

Safety takes readiness and resolve. Security requires strength.

***

So why have two consecutive Democrat Administrations behaved this way?

Republicans won the historic victories of the Abraham Accords and brought Israel and the Arab world closer together. Why did the Biden Democrats waste no time reversing that progress and disrespecting our ally?

The answer is simple — and it's disturbing.

The far left in this country has become incredibly hostile to the state of Israel. The most extreme statements have become a daily routine. They even dabble openly in anti-Semitism.

But President Biden will not stand up to them. Because he cares more about his own power. 

This past weekend, Congresswoman Cori Bush put out a statement suggesting the Palestinians are equal victims and calling Israel a "military occupation" and "apartheid."

Her colleague Omar has a history of anti-Israel statements that have been so offensive and so anti-Semitic that even House Democrats including Nancy Pelosi had to rebuke her.

Their fellow "Squad" member A.O.C. has said supporting Israel means taking "the side of occupation." 

Their friend Congresswoman Jayapal has copy-pasted Hamas propaganda to call Israel "racist."

And this past week Congresswoman Tlaib went full-on victim-blaming. She said Israel is "apartheid" and responsible for the cycle of violence. As we speak, she continues to fly the Palestinian flag in the taxpayer-funded hallway outside her office.

These people support the anti-Semitic B.D.S. Movement that calls for economic warfare against Israel through boycotts and sanctions — simply because the Jewish state dares to exist.

And several of them put those bigoted boycotts into practice themselves a few months back. They boycotted President Herzog's speech to Congress and voted against a pro-Israel resolution.

I said at the time that giving aid and comfort to anti-Semitism was a dangerous, reckless signal for members of Congress to send. But even before Israel has buried its dead, even with hostages still in captivity, they began doubling and tripling down.

More toxic rhetoric. More victim-blaming. More fake moral equivalence between good and evil.

President Biden and other progressives pretend they're different. They pretend they're respectable. Moderate. Grown-ups.

But their top priority is their own power.

Neither Hakeem Jefferies nor Chuck Schumer nor Joe Biden nor Kamala Harris have said a single word this past week to repudiate the insane, reckless reactions to the attacks from their own side.

We've seen D.S.A. socialists and far-left activists groups pour into the streets of New York and Chicago to praise the terrorists and insult Israel. Mass demonstrations — taking the terrorists' side!

And radical student groups at our elite universities are putting out despicable statements taking the side of the killers.

We are talking about Americans celebrating terrorism. Celebrating the killings and the kidnappings. Calling for the eradication of Israel "from the river to the sea."

These are the same groups that put the "Squad" in Congress. The same people who decide Democrat primary elections.

Several of the Representatives I just named are members of the D.S.A. themselves.

Where are the repudiations? Where are the primary challengers?

Why will neither Joe Biden nor Kamala Harris say a word about any of this?

Because it's about power. And they'll do anything to hang onto it. 

They will weaponize race and class here at home. They will tell hope-stealing lies about systemic racism. They call America an evil country. And they give aid and comfort to extremists who are not just anti-Israel, but anti-Semitic.

Radical liberals are choosing their own political power over peace.

They would rather invite attacks on our allies than stand up to the fringe in their own party.

It is cowardice that makes them complicit. And it has to stop. 

We need to eliminate the racist, socialist, anti-Semitic D.S.A. from American politics.

If the D.S.A. and their friends are going to behave like a hate group, we should treat them like one. And we should stop pretending it's normal or OK that the most famous, most prominent House Democrats in the country are joined at the hip with them.

Every member of the Squad should either quit the D.S.A. and repudiate the people who are cheering on deadly terrorism… or they must be expelled from Congress.

***

We need a policy of strength and leadership.

Number one — We need to rescue the American hostages and get them out. Period.

We need to bring those Americans home this instant. Use our Special Forces if we have to.

And the President needs to stop hosting White House picnics and 'calling a lid' at lunchtime until our fellow citizens are safe.

We need a Commander-in-Chief who will put the world on notice with a policy that is very simple: If you take an American life, it will cost you yours.  We'll make sure of it.

Number two — Hamas needs to be wiped off the face of the earth. Decades of America's investment have helped Israel possess the hardware and the capabilities they need to do it.

But as we are already seeing, this new war is going to be a burden and a struggle, even for an ally as well prepared as this one. Israel is going to need more help. More coordination. More ammo.

And when I'm in the Oval Office, if Israel finds itself in need of anything, one phone call to my White House is all it will take.

When America's allies need to reload, the arsenal of democracy has to be stocked and ready.

When I'm president, we will never send out pathetic and weak statements trying to stop our allies from responding when they're attacked. 

My Secretary of State will not publicly call for a premature ceasefire and then have to delete the tweet. 

The only words out of President Biden's mouth should be: "How can we help?" 

And more broadly — America needs to bring back a Middle East policy that treats our allies like allies… and our enemies like enemies. 

No more desperate cuddling up to Iran.

No more planeloads of cash to terrorist sponsors.

No more condescending lectures and hostile gestures to our strongest ally in the region and the only democracy in the Middle East.

As the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, I have legislation to strengthen and extend our Iran sanctions. When I'm President, I'll sign it into law.

And earlier today, I called upon Secretary Janet Yellen to come to Congress and testify on the $6 billion slush fund. They need to explain to us and to the country what they could have possibly been thinking.

We also need to shut off the funding that Joe Biden restarted to the UN's irredeemably flawed Palestinian aid programs. The best investment we can make in peace and stability is backing Israel 100%. 

We need to strengthen our intelligence-sharing partnerships so a surprise like this never happens again.

We need to restart the momentum of the Abraham Accords and continue to help Israel gain respect and recognition throughout the Arab world.

And we need to safeguard our own national security and our own homeland. That starts with securing our wide-open border. 

Scores of people on the terrorist watch list have tried to cross our porous southern border. People from Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Pakistan have been found breaking into our nation. And those are just the ones we've caught.

We need to regain the high ground with a president who is strong.

Not a president who's asleep at the wheel. 

Not a president who will tolerate extremists and anti-Semites to protect his own power.

Israel is not too much for the Jewish people to ask.

Speaking as a Christian, our elder brothers and sisters in faith have suffered enough.

The history of European anti-Semitism. Then the Holocaust. Now 75 years of hatred, rocket fire, and terrorism.

Geographically, Israel is a small fingernail in a massive stretch of majority-Muslim countries, almost 5,000 miles, from the Atlantic coast of Africa to India's border with Pakistan.

The people of Israel are not asking too much! They have made generous offer after generous offer that the Palestinian leaders have rejected.

They simply want to live in peace. It's a human right. And it's non-negotiable. 

***

Let me conclude with this.

I will always condemn anti-Semitism, appeasement, and weakness on the radical left.

But I will also call out weakness or confusion among conservatives as well.

Hear me clearly, it's not an equal problem. But it's a problem. 

Vivek Ramaswamy has said the definition of success is reducing America's support for Israel. And he's proposed that we surrender Taiwan to the Chinese Communist Party as long as we've relocated some factories.

Governor DeSantis once dismissed Russia's invasion of Ukraine as just some "territorial dispute."

The last thing we need is a Joe Biden wing of the Republican Party on foreign policy.

It's also a mistake and damaging when some Republicans keep repeating that America is in decline.

They paint a picture of some failing empire that needs to cut our losses and pull up the drawbridge. 

That idea is dead wrong. And it's dangerous.

The American people are not in decline. American courage and American values aren't in decline. 

We're just stuck with a weak President who is in retreat.

Joe Biden has America retreating from safety on our streets and security at our borders.

He has us retreating from stable prices and supply chains…

Retreating from the very core values that have made America exceptional…

And retreating from peace through American strength abroad.

We aren't in decline. We're in a Biden retreat. So all we need to do is turn around.

I am running for President to restore peace through strength.

To double down on American power.

We need a Commander-in-Chief who is loyal to our allies and lethal to our adversaries, with resolve that is beyond any question.

And when I am President, there will not be one terrorist or anti-Semite on the face of the Earth who doubts for one second that America has Israel's back. 

So allow me to close with the prayer of the Prophet Isaiah for Jerusalem, in Isaiah 62: 

"Because I love Zion, I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent.

"I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch…

May the Lord "hold you in his hand for all to see – a splendid crown in the hand of God."

May God's mercy comfort Israel today…

May God's justice protect Israel tomorrow…

And may God bless the United States of America.

Thank you.